


everyone who sees you falls in love

by softspoken



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Bad Jokes, Birthday Fluff, Cereal, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Miscommunication, Reconciliation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-23
Updated: 2020-05-23
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:55:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24335479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/softspoken/pseuds/softspoken
Summary: Harry and Louis have been dating for three years. It's all great until Harry forgets Louis' birthday.
Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson
Comments: 3
Kudos: 73





	everyone who sees you falls in love

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this back in 2015ish and I found it today and saw it was 15+ pages just sitting in my google drive for so long so I wrote a quick ending and decided to post it. I'm not super happy with it, mostly because I can't remember where I wanted to story to originally go, but I still liked some parts and decided this would be a good way to get back into writing, so here it is lol 
> 
> title taken from Your Love (Déjà Vu) by Glass Animals

Louis remembers how they met. Fucking Tescos of all places. 

He couldn’t reach the top shelf where some douchebag had decided to stock his favorite cereal (Curiously Cinnamon, for the record) and Harry just happened to be a tall giant that had been in the same aisle, intently reading the back of a Lucky Charms box.

And obviously, Harry was really polite and got the box for him and made a really romantic comment about Louis bum and they kissed and Louis rode him off into the sunset.

But, no, really it was more like:

Louis’ arm is cramping and the fucking skyscraper of a man next to him is apparently deaf to Louis’ helpless whimpers - that he was maybe deliberately making - because apparently a cereal box was more important than Louis being in need and that was it, Louis was done.

“Y’know, you’re a fucking giant. You could easily reach this, yet there you are, reading the back of a fucking Lucky Charms box. There’s some kind of sick irony in this.” 

(There probably isn’t but whatever. Louis has never been good in English.)

But apparently Jack the Giant is actually Bambi because he sputters and flails his arms stupidly, dropping the Lucky Charms box. And maybe there’s a store worker around that could help Louis instead.

But lo and behold, Bambi toddles over like he’s walking for the first time and asks “Which one?” and his voice is stupid. Really, stupid.

But what’s even stupider is how stupid Louis’s going to get over this stupid boy.

Louis realizes he hasn’t responded yet, so he mumbles something about the Curiously Cinnamons and Bambi grabs it for him.

“Thank you,” Louis says, taking the box, and maybe their fingers brush a little, whatever.

Louis’s ready to turn and leave, now that he has what he wanted, but his eyes catch the Lucky Charms box that Bambi-boy has left on the floor and it’s only right to return the favor right? Plus, the box laying in the middle of the aisle is probably a safety hazard in some book somewhere.

So, Louis bends over to pick up the box for Bambi-boy when he hears a sharp “Jesus” and a loud clatter behind him and he briefly wonders if the second coming of Christ is happening in the Tesco’s aisle behind him. 

He looks back (still bending down; there’s a nice breeze coming through here) and sees that Bambi has managed to knock over an entire row of cereal boxes. He’s pressed against the metal shelf like Louis is going to attack him and he stupidly looks like a deer caught in headlights.

(Ha. Deer. Because, Bambi. Get it? Louis is so witty, it blows his mind. But right now, he’d rather blow this boy. See? So fucking witty. Louis makes a note to give himself a nice pat on the back when he gets home.)

Bambi blushes stupidly and his eyes are darting everywhere except Louis and Louis has had this happen to him enough times to know what’s going on.

He feels a bit like a slut right now, but it’s one of Louis’ favorite feelings. So, he decides to give Bambi a show.

“Y’know, you can look. I don’t mind,” he hopes he sounds as seductive as he does in his head, but he knows that if Zayn were here, he’d tell Louis all about how bloody stupid he sounded.

So, Louis decides to up the ante. He stands against the shelf and leans on it, sticking his ass out. He wiggles his hips a bit. Just to be sure.

Bambi clammers around stupidly and grabs the edges of the shelf for dear life and his eyes are stupidly wide and he looks so shocked it’s almost cute. 

Anyway, there Louis is, surrounded by cereal boxes in the Breakfast aisle with a cute boy. And he thanks every person that made it possible for him to be here today. 

Bambi hasn’t done anything, but a glance over his shoulder shows Louis that Bambi is staring with dark, intense eyes and he doesn’t look so stupidly innocent now. He looks more like a wolf, ready to pounce on his prey.

Bambi reaches forward and Louis feels his palm pressed against the middle of his right cheek. He has to fight a smile, because there’s a cute boy touching his bum and wow, Louis is having a great day.

Bambi squeezes a bit and Louis shudders at the feeling. Bambi drops the Curiously Cinnamons box and smacks his now free hand against Louis’ left cheek, making Louis let out a small squeak.

Bambi shifts a bit, pressing his fingers into Louis's hips and his thumbs into the bottom dips of his arse, pushing up. Louis lets out a soft moan at that and he can feel Bambi smirking.

In retrospect, bending over in a public Tescos aisle while a cute boy rubbed his hands all over his arse probably wasn’t a good idea because they’ve not even done much groping when someone shouts from behind them.

“Hey!”

They both turn, Louis standing up straight now, and wouldn’t it be Louis’ luck that his intimate groping in a store aisle with a nice boy was interrupted by a Tesco’s worker.

Though, the worker didn’t seem to notice their moment, because all he can focus on is the various cereal boxes on the floor. He charges towards them, red in the face, and Louis' first instinct is to run.

So, he makes a break for it, and judging by the heavy footsteps behind him, Bambi follows. 

They make it outside to Louis' car and Bambi gets in uninvited, but Louis doesn’t mind. Bambi claims that he doesn't want to get caught either and his car is down the road.

So, Louis hides in the car with him. They spend most of the time talking, learning each other's names (Bambi turned out to be Harry) and interests and things like that, which took about three hours and ended with them making plans for a date the next day.

But looking back, he realizes that they got together because Louis let Harry feel his bum. 

Not that he minds it, Harry’s got hands made for groping, but it’s a bit odd to tell your parents that you got a boyfriend because you let him touch your arse.

His mum didn’t really mind it, probably because she knows what Louis did before, on every free weekend, with strangers he met in a bar and/or club.

And obviously, he keeps the story clean when he tells his sisters.

-

Fast forward three years and they have a flat together. Louis works in a small cafe down the road and Harry’s going to uni and working at a tech store downtown. Combined, they make just enough to pay rent and buy food, though Harry’s grandpa left Harry a massive trust fund, Harry refuses to use it claiming he wants to ‘save it for something special’.

But things are going great.

Until the dreaded day comes, and Louis knows it’s not going to be good.

See, Harry’s in Law and he stresses over the stupidest things, really. 

Louis knows how he gets about school and exams and how he’s always ready to fling himself out of a window after staring blankly at his textbook for two hours. (It’s one of the many reasons Louis never bothered with uni.)

So, when the day comes, and Harry fails to say anything, Louis doesn’t want to make a big deal of it. It wasn’t like he expected anything but he didn’t want it to go completely unnoticed. 

But Harry’s got a massive test today because law is stupid and mean and has tests the day before Christmas even though the rest of the school looks like a fucking barren wasteland and Louis definitely doesn’t want to bother him. He’s dashing around the apartment in a frenzy, yelling profanities as he frantically throws papers around.

“Louis, where’s my study sheet?” Harry screams.

“Check the dresser!” Louis calls back. He’s mixing together cake batter with the whisk. Of course he’s going to have a cake. It’s tradition.

(Maybe it’s not tradition to eat the entire cake yourself, but.)

“It’s not there!” Harry’s breaking down now.

“Just hang on a second!” Louis drops the whisk, making sure it doesn’t slide down into the mix, and goes into the living room to find Harry’s paper.

He checks the bookshelf and grabs one of Harry’s textbooks and shakes it out until a paper drifts to the floor.

“Found it!” Louis yells to Harry. He bends down to pick up the paper just as Harry dashes into the room.

He takes a second to appreciate the view, before wrapping his arms around Louis’ waist and squeezing tightly. He buries his face into Louis’ neck and presses his lips there. “Love you.”

“I know,” Louis responds. He turns in Harry’s arms and pecks him once before shoving the paper against his chest. “Now, you better get going or you're going to be late, sweet.”

Harry smiles at him fondly, taking the paper. He leans in to kiss Louis one more time before grabbing his bag and heading towards the door. He stops in his tracks and for a second Louis thinks Harry may have remembered, but then Harry turns around and blows him a kiss. 

He yells dramatically, “Goodbye, my love!” before heading out the door. Louis stands in his spot, grinning fondly before going back to finish his cake. 

It comes out pretty good, the icing looks better than it ever has on Louis’ previous attempts at baking. He takes a picture and sends it to his mum, feeling particularly proud of himself. 

He sits on the couch, eating the cake until it starts to taste funny and he starts to feel ill and has to set it down. He watches reruns of Doctor Who and switches to Kitchen Nightmares when the Doctor Who episodes start to repeat. 

(Personally, he thinks Gordon would be very impressed with his cake.)

Once he tires of reruns and infomercials, he tosses the rest of the cake in the trash and washes the dish, before he goes for a run, because he feels a bit bad for eating half the cake. He takes a shower and throws on one of Harry’s shirts and clean boxers and lays on the couch until Harry comes home. 

He trudges through the door and he looks exhausted and Louis smiles because now he knows he made the right decision not to tell Harry.

He smiles when he sees Louis on the couch and takes off his coat and tosses it to the side before kicking off his shoes. He falls on top of Louis, like a tree that’s just been cut down, which really is a terrible pun because Harry is quite the environmentalist.

‘Timber’ Louis thinks when Harry’s chest bumps his and his arms wrap around Louis’ waist.

Louis lets out an ‘oof’ and shifts around under Harry to get more comfortable. He gets his arms around Harry’s broad shoulders and waist, digging one hand into Harry’s hair, tugging on the ends, and the other running up and down Harry’s back.

Harry lets out a deep groan and it rumbles against both their chests. Louis loves it like this. He can feel Harry’s heart beating, thump, thump, thump, and it relaxes him.

“I love you,” Harry whispers in his ear. His voice is deep and gravelly and Harry only sounds like this in the mornings, but it sends a shiver down Louis’ spine.

“I know,” Louis says and his voice sounds weird to his own ears. He usually says it back, well he always does, even if it takes a while, but he didn’t say it this morning and he doesn’t know why he feels like he can’t say it right now. It’s a weird nervous feeling in his stomach, like a huge, hard knot that makes his palms sweat and a lump rise to his throat and it feels weird. It’s like his body knows that today was supposed to be filled with balloons, gifts, and sometimes beer, and now that he’s having none of that, it’s like his body is going through withdrawal. 

Harry shifts around, taking his arms out from under Louis and digging his elbows into the cushions to hold his head up. He stares at Louis with tired, but concerned eyes.

“Y’alright?” His hair resembles a bush and his eyes are half-lidded, but still have the twinkles in them like they always do when he looks at Louis. They shine like little stars and Louis would love to stare at them all day and pick out constellations. And yeah, this is all he needs. No cakes, no gifts, no parties, he could stare at his boy for the rest of the day and still go to bed feeling like today was well spent. The fact that Harry forgot doesn't even matter anymore.

Louis stares up at him and smiles softly, his chest blooming with warmth and love. He moves one of Harry’s hairs back into place and says, “Perfect. Absolutely perfect.”

Harry smiles softly and rests his head on Louis’ chest again and in no time, he’s asleep.

The day wasn’t what he expected but on the bright side, his mum called and sent him little presents from her and his sisters, so yeah, it wasn’t bad at all. 

And in the end, he doesn’t even mind that Harry forgot because all that matters is that he’s there with him and he’s Louis’ and they get to sleep in the same bed (or couch) at the end of every day.

Harry has enough to deal with from school and even more exams coming up and Louis is not going to add to his stress with something as stupid as his birthday.

-

It’s been a week and Louis doesn't care anymore. Honestly, he doesn’t. 

He’s let it go, like a salad in the wind. The perfect metaphor for his life. Or simile. Louis had never been too good at English. All he needed were his ABC’s and he set for life. He didn’t fucking need to know what a satire or a complex sentence was.

But the thing is, he’s starting to realize that, sooner or later, Harry’s going to find out and when he does, he’s going to be devastated. Like absolutely crushed and Louis doesn't know how he’s going to deal with Harry when that happens.

Because it’s going to; Louis can feel it in his bones.

He’s sort of hoping that, maybe, just maybe, Harry will somehow miraculously never find out and Louis can pretend that he’s still 22 until next year. 

And pretend he’s a year younger than he actually is for the rest of his life, for Harry’s sake.

But things never turn out the way Louis hopes.

-

It happens in the club of all places. It’s the fucking New Year and Nial invites them all out to get drunk as hell and why would Louis ever say no to that.

Harry heads to the dance floor with Niall, because he’s his wingman or something, while Louis opts to stay by the bar because he stressed as fuck and it’s been way too long since he’s had a good drink. 

Harry pecks him on the cheek and promises to come back as soon as he can. 

And normally Louis wouldn’t mind because they’re both allowed to do their own thing. There’s no rule that Harry has to stick to Louis’ side all the time, but the second Harry leaves, a sleazy looking boy with too much grease in his hair slides up next to him and offers to buy him a drink and Louis wishes that Harry would come back.

Louis declines the drinks, obviously, because he’s above taking drinks from strangers (and he’s not stupid). He buys his own drinks and tries to ignore Stinky Sleaze Boy’s pathetic attempts of flirting.

“C’mon, just lemme buy you one drink,” McSleaze urges.

“I’d rather have the money, darling,” Louis replies as he orders another pint for himself.

He’s three pints and two vodka shots in and kinda drunk when Harry comes back to the bar and wraps his arms around Louis' waist, a little too tightly than normal. He probably noticed McSleazy.

Louis leans back into him and hums happily. “Did ya have fun, babe?” He slurs a little bit and Harry nuzzles his face into Louis' hair.

“Yeah, but I thought you wanted some company,” Harry glances at McSleazy and presses closer to Louis.

“So, what’s your name?” McSleazy leans in a little too close for Harry’s liking and Louis’s way too drunk to care anymore. 

“Louis,” he mumbles out and he can feel Harry staring at him incredulously. The sane part of Louis thinks ‘Don’t engage with the enemy’ but he’d already stopped listening after the second pint.

Only now does it occur to him that McSleazy had already introduced himself and Louis has already forgotten. It started with an ‘S’. Or it was an ‘A’. Oh well.

“So, how old are you Louis?” McSleazy seems to not care that Harry is glowering at him.

“He’s 22,” Harry sneers at him, before Louis can even register what McSleazy said.

And he’s so drunk and he can’t even think straight and he forgets to lie. He fucking forgets and he ruins it.

“23,” Louis slurs out and he can feel Harry tense behind him. He immediately wants to take it back.

McSleazy gets this look in his eye that makes Louis want to punch his face in. He grins stupidly and glances between Harry and Louis before he pulls out a piece of paper from his pocket. 

“Well. If you ever wanna chat, here’s my number,” Sleazy hands Louis a slip of paper that already has his number written on it and Louis wants to comment on how presumptuous it is that he had it prepared.

Harry’s arms are like steel against his waist and Louis feels nauseous, while McSleazeBag looks like he’s having the time of his life.

“I’ll see you later, darling.” And he goes as far as to pull Louis forward and peck him on the cheek. Louis makes a note to cut the skin off his cheek later.

He walks off and Louis’s dreading to turn around, but he has to. He has to face his mistake. So, he does and he instantly feels his heart drop to the pits of his stomach and die a fiery death. Harry looks exactly like Louis knew he would.

Shattered, disappointed in himself; he looks like he’s done something so terrible and it’s still only set in.

The sane part of Louis kicks in a little and he reaches his hand up to caress Harry’s face. Harry jolts a little and his eyes scan over Louis' face, before he places his own hand on Louis’.

“Did I really forget?” He says it so quietly and Louis almost misses it over the loud music and chatter around them, but Harry sounds like a small child, and Louis wants to slap himself.

“Hey, no, it’s, Haz, it’s okay,” Louis tries to assure him that it’s no big deal, but the fact that his breath smells like alcohol and he’s still slurring his words kind of takes away from the moment.

“No, it’s not! I should have remembered! I had your present ready and fuck, I’m terrible! I was gonna walk you up with breakfast in bed and to take you to the park at sunset with a stupid picnic because, fuck, I know you’d slaughter me if we went to see the sunrise but I was-” And he stops, like he’s caught himself spilling a secret.

“You were what” Louis asks; he’s sober enough to at least think a little straight. He smiles a little at what Harry had planned because it’s so Harry and Louis knows it would have been perfect.

“N-nothing. Can we go? Let’s go. We’re going,” Harry says quickly and grabs Louis' wrist to pull him up. He stumbles a little but Harry grips him tight around the waist to hold him steady.

-

They drive in silence, Louis drinking from his water bottle like it’s his job in an attempt to sober up and Harry just gripping the steering wheel and glaring at the road ahead.

They don’t say a word to each other; Harry doesn’t even glance at him. Not even when Louis swallows water and breathes at the same time and starts choking. 

Louis feels just as frustrated at Harry as the day they met in Tescos. Probably even more. But just like back then, Louis’s done.

“Are you mad at me or something?” Louis asks; his throat burns on every word. Harry doesn’t reply. Louis’s not sure if Harry even heard him, but he doesn’t try again.

He spends the rest of the ride gulping down water and ignoring the burn in the back of his throat.

-

Harry opens the door for him when they pull up to their flat, but he briskly walks off and doesn't wait for Louis to get out.

Louis sits for a minute before he can gather up enough strength to stand up and keep himself steady.

He can’t believe Harry’s mad at him. Why would Harry be mad at him? He tried to keep it a secret for Harry’s sake, why is he suddenly the bad guy?

(Not that Harry was the bad guy. Louis doesn’t blame him for forgetting at all. But, this is just weird.)

He slams the door a little too hard and heads inside.

-

He locks the flat door behind him and heads straight to the bedroom.

Harry’s in the bathroom and Louis can hear the sink running. He doesn’t want to press his ear to the door because he knows that Harry does this when he needs a moment to gather himself. Also, he thinks Harry may be crying.

He flops down onto the bed and feels the sudden tiredness settle in his bones. He wants to talk to Harry because it’s hardly midnight and Harry likes to stay up late but then he hears the shower turn on and he’s way too tired for this right now so he decides against it.

He takes off his trousers and shirt before he buries himself under the covers and fights the tears in his eyes.

-

Louis wakes up at around fuck-face-o’clock (5 A.M.) because somebody has decided to take every single pot and pan in their kitchen and make as much noise as possible. And he wouldn’t be him if he didn’t get up to give said person a piece of his mind.

He notes that Harry’s side of the bed is empty and cold so maybe it’s him, but Louis grabs one of Harry’s golf clubs, just in case it’s actually a murderer because you can never be too careful.

He tiptoes out, the cold floor making him even tenser, and his eyes glance around erratically. He’s ready to strike.

It’s silent but then another pan clatters and Louis lets out a shriek, swings the golf club, and smashes the clear glass lamp on the hall table.

“Oops,” he mutters.

“Louis?” Harry peeks into the hall and glances at Louis, then the lamp, then at Louis again. “Do I wanna know?”

“Well. No. Probably not.”

A fond smile graces Harry’s face. “It was ugly anyway.”

“...My mum gave that to us as a housewarming gift,” Louis says. He gently places the golf club against the wall.

Harry stops for a second and stares at the lamp for a solid 20 seconds before he groans. “Shit.” He gets on his hands and knees and carefully picks up the bigger pieces of the glass and tries to put them together. “Maybe we can fix it. Fuck, I’m so sorry, Lou.”

Louis lets out a laugh. “Harry, I never said it wasn't ugly.”

“But what if she comes over? She’ll notice that it’s gone!” Harry panics.

“No she won’t Harry! She only gave it to us because it was a gift for her birthday that she didn’t like. She won’t even care, trust me,” Louis smiles at him fondly but freezes when he remembers yesterday. Birthday.

Harry’s hands pause for a second before he continues picking up the glass. There’s a new tension in the air. Louis bites the inside of his cheek. 

Harry leaves the tiny pieces on the floor and goes to throw the others in the trash. “Watch your step,” he tells Louis.

“Fuck off,” Louis mumbles when Harry reaches the kitchen and is out of hearing range. He doesn’t need Harry to look after him.

Originally, he wanted to make a scene and stomp into the kitchen and demand what the hell Harry’s problem was, but he takes one step and a small piece of glass digs itself into the sole of his foot and he yells.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck,” He screams and now Harry’s by his side, wrapping an arm around his waist, helping him limp over to the couch in the living room. Blood drips from his foot and onto the wood floor.

“I told you to watch your step,” Harry mumbles.

“Oh, shut it.”

Harry places him down gently onto the couch and gets on his knees.

“Harold, this is hardly the time,” Louis jokes.

“Oh shut up,” Harry replies and lifts Louis’ foot up a bit to look at the wound. “The glass isn’t even halfway in; I think I can get it out,” Harry says.

“You’re going to pull it out?”

“Of course, how else am I going to stop the bleeding?” Harry leaves to get tweezers from the bathroom and the first aid kit from the drawer in the kitchen. 

“Will it hurt?” Louis asks anxiously. 

Harry’s eyes soften and he smiles warmly at Louis. “I’ll try to make it as painless as possible.”

Louis nods and winces when Harry brings the tweezers closer to his foot. He can’t help but inch his foot away.

“Louis,” Harry says softly. “I won’t be able to do it if you keep moving.”

“Well, I don’t want you to do it, Harold. Maybe I’m perfectly fine with the glass in my foot.”

“Louis, hush up and let me take it out babe.”

“Well, that’s a first. Most of the time you’re trying to put something in.”

Harry ignores him and grabs his foot, forcing Louis to keep it in place. Louis watches as he furrows his eyebrows and sticks his tongue out of the corner of his mouth in concentration. His eyes trace Harry’s features: the jaw that could cut glass, the stupidly pink lips, and his stupid, stupid hazel eyes that make Louis go mad. How stupid.

He feels a slight sting as Harry pulls at the glass and he whimpers a little. 

Harry looks up and smiles at him, “I got it.” He holds it up and the glass is just a little bigger than a grain of rice.

He sets the piece aside and grabs the little spray thing that makes Louis’ cut sting.

“Sorry,” Harry winces. He takes one of the big band-aids from the kit and rips it open and from what Louis can see, it’s got Hello Kitty faces on it.

“Who the hell bought that?”

“I did. They’re cute,” Harry says as he spreads the oversized bandaid over Louis’ small cut. “There. All done.”

Louis smiles at him and Harry grins back, but a look spreads across his face and his grin falters, before it dies just as quickly as it came. He gets off his knees and steps back and begins to mutter and pace. The tension is back and Louis’ blood runs cold.

“Harry?”

“I can’t believe I fucking forgot, Louis, I’m terrible, fuck,” he grips bunches of his hair into his fists in frustration.

“No, Harry it’s okay, really. I don’t even mind that you forgot! I knew you were stressed and I didn’t want to bother you,” Louis rambles.

“I mind that I forgot, Louis! What kind of asshole forgets his boyfriend’s birthday?!”

Louis doesn’t reply, knowing that Harry needs to let it all out before Louis’ input will be accepted. Harry rambles on for another few minutes, muttering about how he’s so disappointed in himself and how he’s a terrible boyfriend and a terrible person in general. 

When he stops, Louis is about to speak when Harry leans over and kisses him. It’s soft and slow, but quick as Harry pulls away and looks Louis straight in the eyes and says, “Let me make it up to you.”

Louis opens his mouth but closes it because Harry looks like he’ll cry if Louis says anything other than yes, so he nods.

Harry breathes out and smiles at him. “Okay, just give me a minute okay?”

He sprints to the kitchen and Louis hears plates clattering. He waits five minutes before he gets up and exaggeratedly limps to the kitchen. He walks in to see Harry hunched over the counter with his head in his hands.

“Harry? What’s wrong?” Louis carefully steps towards him and places his hand on his back, rubbing up and down in comfort.

“We...we’re out of your favorite ice cream,’ Harry says, his voice muffled by his hands.

Louis bites his cheek not to laugh. “Why does that matter?’

“I was going to take you to the park and we could watch the sunrise and we would have a picnic and it was supposed to be perfect,” Harry whines.

“Well, how about we go to Tesco’s right now and buy some, and then we can go to the park tomorrow?” 

“But, I wanted to do it today. Well, I mean, I wanted to do it on your birthday but I was an absolute twat and forgot and you spent the day alone and-”

“Hey, now. None of that,” Louis coaxes him to remove his hands from his face and smiles at Harry. “Tomorrow is just as good as any other day.”

Harry looks at him for a second and pulls him into his arms and squeezes, tight. “I love you so much.”

“I know,” Louis replies.

Harry pulls back, sniffs once, and nods. “Okay. Go get ready. We’ll go right now.”

-

They get to Tesco’s at half six and by then, the sun’s come up and Tesco’s is just dead and empty inside. 

Harry’s by the ice cream and Louis ventures past the chips to the cereal aisle, smiling softly at the memory of their first encounter. He carefully takes a box of Curiously Cinnamons off the shelf and laughs at himself. It was so stupid, but he was so glad it happened. He reminisces for a moment and doesn’t notice that Harry’s walked into the aisle as well and is staring at Louis with wide eyes. He’s as beautiful and radiant as the first time he saw him. 

That moment, right then, Harry thinks it is perfect. He won't get another moment like this again. 

It’s time.

He slowly gets down onto one knee, never taking his eyes off Louis, and pulls out the ring from his back pocket.

He clears his throat and watches as Louis turns to him, eyes widening, cereal box falling out of his loose grip.

“I hope this isn’t stupid, but if it is, just say the word and I can do it again another time,” Harry blurts out, suddenly a little self-conscious. Not everyone wants to be proposed to in Tesco’s at ass-o’clock in the morning. 

Louis just blinks at him. “You-you're not just doing this because you feel bad right?” 

“I’m doing it because I’ve wanted to for years and I planned to do it on your birthday, but I’m a huge idiot,” Harry says as he opens the small velvet box, showcasing the most perfect ring Louis has ever seen. “And I know we still have to talk about what happened because I know I hurt your feelings and you’re too good of a person to tell me outright. But it was important and I should have remembered and I swear I'll spend the rest of my life making it up to you. I look back all the time and think about how lucky I am to have you in my life and how much I haven’t shown it enough. I fall in love with you more every day and this has been a long time coming, not because I feel bad about what I did.”

Louis stares at him, glances around the still empty aisle and smiles at Harry. “Is this your speech?”

Harry grins at him. “I had another one written out, but I can read it to you on our wedding day.”

“Little presumptuous. I haven’t even said yes yet.”

“Yet.”

Louis laughs, a wonderful burst of happiness coursing through him. Yeah, this is definitely everything he’s been looking for. Of course he’s going to say yes.

Harry pulls the ring out and promptly drops in on the floor, watching it roll under the shelf.

What follows is a little unceremonious, but it’s them. 

One of the scrambles for the ring while the other tries to lift the shelf up. They grab it, it’s delicately placed on Louis’ finger before he’s pushed against the cereal shelf with Harry’s lips all over his.

They stay there until a worker comes by, yells at them, and chases them out. They sprint to the car, holding hands, Louis’ new ring glistening in the bright sunlight. 

They’ll have their ups and downs, Louis knows, but sitting side by side in the car, talking about everything and nothing, just like the first time they met, Louis knows they’ll be just fine.

**Author's Note:**

> hopefully that wasn't too terrible. I want to get back into writing during this quarantine and I'm hoping posting this will inspire me again.


End file.
